


Just Out Of Reach

by robbiwrites717



Category: Green Creek Series - T.J. Klune
Genre: Carter is Confused, M/M, and remains confused, but he starts to bond with the timber wolf, excessive cussing, very brief mention of torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-25 15:16:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18263966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robbiwrites717/pseuds/robbiwrites717
Summary: Carter is awoken one night by the timber wolf who had just had a horrible nightmare. He doesn't hesitate to help the wolf and when he realizes what the dream was probably about it makes some things start click into place for Carter, who thinks he now understands more about the wolf's past.But as Carter begins to become protective over the timber wolf things get more confusing for him as well.(I'm so tired and this is a pretty horrible summary so I'll probably change it later)





	Just Out Of Reach

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all, so I just recently finished reading Wolfsong and Ravensong and woo boy do those characters now own my entire heart. I'm pretty captivated by the Timber Wolf (which is kinda funny considering he hasn't even spoken yet lol) so I'm not surprised my first story is about him. 
> 
> Anyways I woke up at 3 am two nights ago with this story in my head so I decided to write it down, hope you guys enjoy it! =)

Sometimes Carter could not believe the bullshit that was his life. Granted there was a lot of good things about it. So _many_ good things. His brothers, his mom, Ox, Gordo, Mark, _everyone_ in the pack really, _past and present_. All the laughs and good times they had had. There were so many, many amazingly good times and Cater was immensely aware and appreciative of each and everyone of them.

But there had been a lot of bad times too. Times that were harder than they had any right to be. Times that made Carter wonder how it was even possible for their pack to still be standing. Then he’d remember that they were _Bennetts_ and that there had never been another pack like theirs and that no matter what they would keep fighting.

That didn’t make what they had to deal with any easier but sometimes that thought was the only thing that kept him going, a reminder that he had to remain strong. That he had to keep fighting against the feral wolf that clawed at his mind. That he needed to be brave for his mom and Joe and Kelly and everyone. That no matter what enemy came before them he would have to stand up to face it.

But then on top of all that, on top of all those horrifically hard things he had dealt with over the years and all the things yet to come, came the _real_ bullshit in Carter’s life. And it came in the form of a massive, hulking, grey and white Timber wolf who would not leave him the fuck alone.

Carter didn’t understand why it had to pick _him_ to latch onto or why the fuck it felt like it needed to protect _him_ from everything and everyone. Carter sure as fuck didn’t need protecting. Hell, he was the one who was always everyone else’s protector. But apparently that shoulder height, asshole lump of fur felt otherwise.

At first Carter had been mildly terrified of the timber wolf, waiting for it to finally give in to it’s Omega urges and attempt to rip his throat out. At which time he would, _of course_ , kick it’s ass. But it hadn’t and honestly Carter wondered why and , more importantly, _how_ it was able not to.  It was feral, not even able to shift back to human like the rest of the Omegas, but somehow it remained docile around Carter. Territorial and growly as fuck, but still docile. Well, docile by werewolf standards anyway.

Carter’s mild terror had quickly morphed into mild irritation as the timber wolf continued to follow him around every-fucking-where, rubbing against him and sniffing him when it wasn’t too busy growling at anyone who got to close. As much as Carter snarled threats at it and pushed it away, if he was being honest with himself, he didn’t actually find the timber wolf all that annoying.

He actually felt bad for it, it being stuck as a wolf and all. He figured it was probably just lonely and it was just Carter’s shitty luck that he ended up being the unfortunate soul it had latched on to. The fact that Carter would occasionally catch his mother smiling as she watched Carter and the timber wolf interact helped ease any real irritation he might have felt with it because, well, he’d pretty much suffer through anything if it meant making his Mom smile. The timber wolf also smelled pretty nice too which Carter guessed was a plus.

So, although he grumbled his annoyances, Carter let it be his fucking shadow, only really having to put it in check when it wouldn’t stop growling at his family and friends.

Carter had to draw the line somewhere though and that line was his _bed_. The first night that Carter hadn’t slept with the rest of his pack or _been locked in a cage_ , the Timber Wolf had of course followed him up to his room, which was annoying, but at this point expected.

Carter still grumbled at him the whole way and tried, unsuccessfully, to slam the door in it’s face before it could come into his room but the timber wolf had just growled right back at him and smashed its large body against the door before Carter could close it all the way.

“Dude, this is such bullshit,” he told the wolf. “You’re lucky we don’t make your ass sleep outdoors.”

The wolf looked back at him with a snarl as it made it’s way across the room, not even hesitating as it jumped up onto Carter’s bed once it reached it.

“No. _Fuck no_ ,” Carter growled out as he started across his room towards his bed, watching in horror as the wolf began to rub all over his blankets and pillows.

“Absolutely fucking not,” Carter said as he reached his bed and wrapped his arms around the timber wolf’s middle and physically yanked it off the bed and tossed it none to gently onto the floor. The wolf growled out it’s displeasure and tried to get back around Carter who was bodily blocking it from a clear path to the bed.

“You are _not_ sleeping in my bed,” Carter told it, using one of his legs to knock the wolf back as it tried to dodge around him. “I swear on everything I will make your ass sleep outdoors if you don’t _stop_.”

The wolf glanced up at him seemingly unimpressed before it shot forward once more. Carter was sure it was going for the bed again and moved to intercept it before it could hop up. The wolf however had apparently heeded Carter’s threat because instead of getting on the bed it latched onto one of Carter’s blankets and started pulling it off the bed.

“Oh hell fucking no,” Carter snarled and grabbed the blanket before it was fully on the floor. A brief tug of war ensued. Carter and the wolf snarled and growled at each other, neither one giving up any ground.

“Fucking fine,” Carter finally ended up relenting. He let go he blanket without warning and was pleased when the wolf stumbled backwards with it. “You can have the damn blanket, but I swear to fuck if you try to get back in my bed, _ever_ , I will throw you outside myself.”

The wolf gave him one last growl as it pulled the blanket back towards the bed and dropped it on the floor as close as possible to the bed, of course, _of fucking course_. Carter sat down with a heavy sigh and scrubbed his hands over his face as the wolf lay down on the blanket, curling up with it’s tail laying over it’s snout. Carter had the briefest urge to reach out and pet it but quickly brushed the thought away.

Instead he stood and quickly stripped down to his boxers and crawled back into his bed and pulled the sheet that remained up over himself. Fucking wolf, he growled to himself. As he drifted off to sleep Cater wondered how this was seriously his fucking life.

\---

The next night when they went to the room to go to sleep Carter fully expected the timber wolf to try to get in his bed again. He was a bit shocked when the wolf flopped down on the blanket that Carter hadn’t bother to pick up from the floor that morning without a fight. He felt the urge to reach out and pet it again and he scoffed at himself as he flopped onto his mattress. The last thing he needed to do was to encourage that fucker to be even _more_ clingy.

\---

The two them, Carter and the timber wolf, fell into a sort of routine after that. At night anyway. Carter let the wolf follow him up to his room without complaint and the wolf reciprocated by sleeping on the blanket without complaint. It was almost…nice… almost.

\---

It was about a week later when their routine was interrupted. Carter was pulled from his sleep by the sound of a snarl and then a crash. He came awake instantly, instincts kicking in as his claws came out.

He was sure that this must be it, the timber wolf must finally be giving into its feral instincts. Carter jumped out of bed ready for a fight. He flipped on the lamp that sat on his night table, not necessarily needing it since he could see pretty well in the dark, but also not wanting to give the timber wolf any advantage of being able to hide in the shadows either.

There was another loud snarl and then a whine from somewhere on Carter’s right and he swung around immediately to locate the timber wolf before it could reach him. Carter was mid-shift and his violet eyes locked on the timber wolf. Carter crouched into a fighting stance, but the timber wolf wasn’t coming at him. In fact, it was desperately trying to get away.

Carter stood back up, the confusion clear on his face as he morphed back into full human. He watched silently as the wolf tried it’s best to squeeze it’s huge frame underneath Carter’s desk. It wasn’t succeeding at much other than knocking over the chair, and all the stuff that sat on top of the desk as well, and each subsequent crash seemed to make it panic even more.

Carter was just about ready to snap at it to calm the fuck down, irritated at being woken up, and also at having his room destroyed, when the timber wolf met his gaze with wide, terrified, wet eyes and oh… _oh fuck_. Carter recognized that look and things quickly began to click into place.

Wolves were obviously not as expressive as humans could be but it didn’t matter. That _look_ , that horrible, damaged, terrified _look_ , was the same across any species and Carter felt the weight of it smash into him.

He’d seen that look more times than he’d like to count on his youngest brother’s face after he had returned from Richard Collin’s clutches. That same confused panic when Joe would wake up screaming after a particularly horrible nighmare, not knowing where he was but desperately trying to get away.

Thoughts of the hunter woman, Elijah, sprang to the forefront of Carter’s thoughts. Her words echoed, ‘ _Either they must be put down, or their spirit broken until they become nothing but a pet_ ’. Carter remember how the timber wolf had flinched and crowded closer to him when she had glanced it’s way as she spoke. At the time he hadn’t understood but now it was all too clear, and Carter felt sick with the rage he felt because of it.

He forced himself to swallow it down, knowing that his anger would only make it worse for the timber wolf. Before he took a step forward, he answered the bonds from his pack that were whispering in his head, wanting to know if he needed help and what was going on. _ImOkayDon’tCome_ and _I’mGoodGoodGood_ and _LoveMotherBrotherPackPackPack,_ Carter answered, trying to soothe each question he had felt from the others.

As the whispers calmed down, Carter took a slow, tentative step towards the timber wolf who was still shaking under his desk. It jerked back when it noticed the movement, smacking it’s head against the top of the desk as it did so. Carter stopped instantly and instead crouched down and extended one hand out towards the wolf.

“Hey,” he said gently. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay. It’s just me. Remember? I’m that asshole you like to sniff and follow around everywhere. You’re safe, it’s okay.”

The timber wolf was still shaking and whining but it’s eyes had locked on Carter the moment he had started talking. When it didn’t make any other moves to get away, Carter slowly started to make his way towards it again, still crouched down and whispering reassurances to it.

When he was almost an arm’s length from the wolf, Carter knelt down, braced one hand on the ground and stretched the other the rest of the way towards the timber wolf. He knew it was still risky, to approach an upset omega, but at that moment he couldn’t give two shits less.

The wolf flinched as Carter’s hand came near and it snarled and snapped but Carter didn’t move, continuing to hold out his hand as steadily as he could. It took several long minutes for the wolf to make up it’s mind, alternating between growling and snapping at Carter and whining and flinching away from him. Finally, with one last whimper, it surged forward and pressed it head into Carter’s still waiting hand.

“Good,” Carter whispered. “That’s good, dude. You’re good and you’re safe and you’re okay, I _promise_.”

The wolf whined again and crawled the rest of the way to Carter, pushing itself against Carter’s chest causing him to fall backwards into a sitting position. For once Carter didn’t gripe at the wolf for clinging to him and instead wrapped his arms around the huge wolf and pulled it tighter against him. He rested his head against it’s back and rubbed his hands through it’s fur, still continuing to whisper reassurances to it.

Carter felt so many emotions it was hard for him to even pinpoint them all. There was anger, and rage sure, but there was also anguish and despair and a desperate need to take away the wolf’s pain. Carter burned with the desire of wishing that the hunter, Elijah, was still alive just so he could make her suffer for everything she had made the wolf endure.

It was almost too much for him to process because he honestly didn’t understand it. He had felt similar emotions when Joe had been taken but Joe was his brother, his pack, his future Alpha (at the time), but the timber wolf was _none_ of those things.

It wasn’t even pack, not really, not even with their ties to Ox. But even still Carter wanted to pull the wolf closer to him, to protect it from anything and everything and in that moment, it felt like he would do anything to make it feel better. It was confusing and weird, but Carter forced himself to push the thoughts away, silently promising himself that he’d figure it out later.

He focused his attention back on the wolf and continued trying to soothe it. It eventually stopped it’s shaking and a settled down, laying in Carter’s lap. They stayed like that a long time and when Carter’s back started aching, he stretched his legs out and lay down back against the floor. The wolf moved with him, sliding slightly so that only it’s head remained resting on Carter’s stomach. Carter continued to run his hands through it’s fur, although now he remained silent. It was late into the night when they both finally let sleep take them again.

\---

The next morning when Carter woke up he immediately noticed that the weight of the wolf was no longer on him. He cracked an eye open to look around for it, but he didn’t have to look far. The wolf sat just to his left, apparently watching him sleep if it’s intense gaze on him was any indication.

“Ugh, creeper,” Carter grumbled out as he sat up and pushed the wolf’s head away so it would stop staring at him. Not that it did any good as the wolf was instantly on it’s feet so it could circle around Carter, rubbing against him as it went.

“Oh my god, it’s way too early for this bullshit,” Carter said and put a hand on the wolf to stop it from continuing rubbing all over him, though he didn’t push it away. The wolf sat down and seemed content to just sit there while Carter finished waking up.

“Hey,” Carter said after a few moments of content silence. The wolf turned to look at him and the pair locked eyes with each other. “You good?” Carter asked after few beats.

The wolf moved forward just enough so that it could press it’s forehead against Carter’s. Carter let it happen, closing his eyes as he reached up and ran his hand along the wolf’s neck. Carter felt like it was a significant moment, an answer that to something that was just out of his reach, but he wasn’t surprised when the asshole timber wolf had to ruin it a moment later when it knocked him back over and began licking his face.

“You fucker!” he yelled at it as he pushed it off of himself and stood up. The wolf just wagged it’s tail at him, looking very pleased with itself.

 “Ugh,’ he complained as he wiped the wolf’s slobber from his face. He wiped his hand clean on the wolf’s fur and then scooped up a pair of jeans and shirt from the floor and quickly threw them on.

“Come on,” he said to the wolf once he was done. “Let’s go eat.”

The two of them trudged down the stairs together, side by side. When they entered the kitchen the wolf broke away so it could go get a drink from the bowl of water Carter kept filled for him.

Carter went straight to his mom who was standing at the stove finishing up the bacon and eggs she was cooking for everyone. Carter bumped his head against hers and then kissed her cheek before he leaned his back against the counter and crossed his arms as he watched the timber wolf drink.

“Rough night?” his mother asked.

“Hhmm,” he hummed in response and then, “Yeah, but we’re fine now.”

“I’m glad,” she said and didn’t push him any farther.

Robbie came into the kitchen a moment later and as he did, he passed close by the timber wolf who was still lapping up it’s water. Carter didn’t even realize he had started to growl until Robbie stopped short and started at Carter with a wide, shocked expression. Carter cut out off the growl as soon as he realized what he was doing and stared back at Robbie with what he guessed was an equally wide and shocked expression. He glanced at his mom hoping she might give him an out, but she just stared down at the pan of eggs smiling quietly to herself.

“I… You…,” Carter started, not used to being at a loss for words. “You smell like Kelly,” he finally decided on, trying to turn the tables.

“I haven’t even seen Kelly since last night!” Robbie said, clearly confused.

“Yeah, well let’s keep it that way then,” Carter snapped back.

Elizabeth stifled a laugh next to him but Carter held his gaze on Robbie’s, trying to intimidate him with a glare. Robbie opened his mouth, then closed it and then opened it once more as if he had something to say. Whatever it was he ultimately must have decided against it since, with one last longing glance at the food Elizabeth was cooking, he turned and left the kitchen altogether.

By this time the timber wolf had finished drinking and came straight to Carter and pressed against his legs. It growled up at Elizabeth who was standing too close to her son for it’s liking. Carter swatted it upside it’s head to shut it up. Things might have changed last night but Carter still wasn’t going to put up with the wolf growling at his _mom_ , for fucks sake _._

Elizabeth smiled at him again and handed him a plate loaded with double his normal portion, knowing that Carter had been sharing his food with timber wolf for well over a week now. Carter felt like he should offer an explanation for the whole growling at Robbie thing, but he didn’t even why the hell he had been growling at him in the first place!

He could probably tell her about the timber wolf waking up from a nightmare and how he thought that the wolf had probably been tortured by the hunters but the whole thing felt weirdly personal to Carter for some reason and he couldn’t find the words.

“It had a bad night,” he settled on as he rested his hand on top of the timber wolf’s head.

“You don’t have to explain, dear,” his mom said as she gave him a knowing smile and cupped his cheek.

The wolf started growling at her again the moment she touched Carter, but Elizabeth just laughed and shook her head at it.

“You are sure going to have your hands full, dear,” she said to Carter.

“I _already_ have my hands full,” he said frowning at her in confusion. This for some reason only made her laugh again.

“Indeed. That you do,” she giggled at him and then more seriously, “Don’t take it for granted, Carter.” She cupped his cheek once more, a serene expression on her face, and then swept from the room to call the rest of the pack to breakfast.

Carter frowned after her and then down at the timber wolf. “What the fuck was that about,” he asked it as if it could actually give him an answer. Carter sighed at himself in frustration. “Come on, asshole, let’s eat,” he said leading the way to the table with the loaded plate of food his mom had given him still in his hand.

As Carter fed most of his bacon to the timber wolf he wondered at his mother’s words and the bullshit that his life had become.

\---

That night the wolf followed Carter up to his room same as usual. It went to straight to it’s blanket on the floor and flopped down, curling up and tucking it’s nose beneath it’s tail. Carter undressed and crawled into his bed, scooting close to the far wall.

After spending most of the day thinking over why he had felt so protective over the timber wolf, Carter had decidedly come to the conclusion that he was _not_ going to dwell on it anymore. Seriously, he had enough to worry about and in all honestly it probably just had something to do with him associating the wolf’s past with Joe’s or some bullshit like that.

So he felt protective over it? So fucking what? He had made up his mind not to worry about it and just roll with it and with that in mind, Carter leaned over the side of his bed and stared down at the wolf curled up on his floor.

“Are you coming up or what, asshole?” he snarled at the wolf before he could change his mind.

The wolf’s head popped up and it stared him, it’s head slightly tilted to the side. Carter aggressively patted the empty space at his side. “Seriously, get your ass up here before I change my mind.”

The wolf didn’t need anymore encouragement and leaped onto the bed. Carter instantly regretted his decision when the wolf started rubbing it’s scent all over his fucking bed again.

“Lay the fuck down,” he growled at it. “It’s not too late to throw your ass outside.”

The wolf growled back at him but settled down against Carter’s side. Carter sighed in exasperation even as he slung an arm and leg over the wolf and pulled it close. Carter didn’t let himself think about why he felt so happy that he had the wolf close to him or why he felt so pleased that he’d be there to help it chase away any monsters that came for it in it’s dreams.

“You’re safe,” he whispered against the wolf’s fur when he was almost asleep. The wolf let out a content sigh, it’s breathing long and deep as it inched closer to sleep as well. Carter’s last thought before he finally drifted off was how good his bed smelled and how _right_ everything felt for the first time in a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! <3


End file.
